Black Widow hitches ride to Wisconsin

A central Wisconsin woman got more than she bargained after a trip to the produce section. Earlier this month, Velora Roehl bought some red grapes from a store in Marshfield. She used some in a fruit salad and put the rest back in the fridge. A week later, she thought it was time to clean them out. “I reached my hand in there . . . and, something wiggled,” said Roehl. That got her attention. She looked in the bag and found a web — and a Black Widow spider. “I could see that red hourglass very visably,” said Roehl.

It’s rare, but not unheard of for spiders-including the poisonous Black Widow to hitch a ride on produce. The grapes were picked in Mexico. Roehl has the in a jar. “I really don’t know how to get rid of her other than to take her back to the store,” she said. “I don’t want to open the jar, because she tends to hide in the cover.” The Black Widow is poisonous, but its bite is usually not fatal for humans, it just hurts. A lot.